Outcomes
• A collection of Kenyan Salmonella-specific phages 
have been isolated and will be tested soon in vivo:
NUTRITION & FOOD 5 0 % of crude extracts 
per total number K iam bu
4 0 N a iro b i
Context SECURITY sampled in each 
3 0 county
2 0
• The poultry industry: Increased globally by 5% every 1 0
year for the past three decades; shows a higher 
growth rate than the pig (3%) and beef (1.5%) Bacteriophages a viable 0
Crude Kenyan phage extracts )
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sectors. alternative to antibiotic use S .B
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• The problem: Pullorum disease and fowl typhoid are 
among the most important bacterial diseases in poultry farming Future steps 
affecting chicken health and productivity. Salmonella • Post-2021 potential: Field trial of best candidates.
is also transmitted to humans mostly by poultry • What are other potential applications of this 
products. § Demand for poultry products predicted to grow by particular project: Application to other farming or 
• The problem of AMR: About 75% of antibiotics 800% by 2050 in Africa. agricultural systems.
administered to poultry are released in the § Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an increasing • Scaling objectives?: In partnership with a Canadian 
environment, at least 30% of Salmonella from poultry company to scale up phage production. Hopefully, this 
farms are multidrug resistant. problem in poultry farming. approach can be extended to other African countries.
• What changes do you want to achieve?: Reduce the § Among strategies to control bacterial infections, the 
use of antibiotics in poultry farming and reduce the Partners
use of bacterial viruses (bacteriophages or phages) is 
problem of antimicrobial resistance. going through a renaissance, particularly as 
• Other information related to the project: The alternatives or complements to antibiotics.
project is taking place in Kenya for the benefit of 
women chicken farmers.
Our innovative approach
• Using bacteriophages (viruses that infect and kill Electron microscopy of 
bacteria): They are ecologically safe, do not cause phages (green) binding LIVESTOCK HEALTH
side effects, are ubiquitous, are more specific than to bacteria (blue)
Nicholas Svitek, ILRI
antibiotics, and have the advantage of co-evolving n.svitek@cgiar.org The CGIAR Research Program on Livestock thanks all donors & organizations 
which globally support its work through their contributions to the CGIAR Trust 
with their bacterial host, reducing the emergence of Fund. cgiar.org/funders
long-term resistance. With Angela Makumi, Nicoline 
de Haan, Sylvain Moineau This document is licensed for use under the Creative Commons 
Attribution 4.0 International Licence. June 2020
P e rc e n ta g e  (% )